Date of Award

Spring 5-1-2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA - Master of Arts

Department

Expressive Therapies

Advisor

Theresa Benson

Abstract

Abstract

This capstone thesis will explore the issue of burnout in the field of mental health and the argument for the promotion of using expressive arts as a therapeutic component to decrease and prevent symptoms of burnout. The writer of this thesis will be sharing her personal experiences with burnout while working in the field of mental health. The researcher will review a multimodal expressive arts self-study that she engaged in over the course of one month and will be using the Maslach Burnout Inventory to track symptoms of burnout. Burnout and its prevalence in the field of mental health will be discussed using resources from the United States and other parts of the world. The topic of wellness will be reviewed to combat the symptoms of burnout. The researcher will review other agencies that have used expressive arts techniques within their organization and the effectiveness of its treatment for burnout. There will be a discussion regarding the recent push for wellness programs across the United States. The researcher will be focusing on the worksite wellness movement in Massachusetts, where she is currently residing and working. This thesis is arguing that the wellness initiatives at these organizations are missing a mental health component where using the expressive arts can play a major role. Finally, this thesis ultimately will seek to discuss and review the benefits, limitations and other considerations for implementing the use of multimodal expressive arts in mental health agency wellness programs.

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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